Genealogy Lock-In

There are still a few spots open for the Lock-In!

Be sure to sign up if you are planning to attend!

(Click on the Lock-In link toward the bottom of the page.)

The April Genealogy Lock-In is scheduled for the 22nd, Friday, from 6:30-10:30 p.m.

If you have never been to one of the Library's lock-ins, let me explain. The Lock-Ins are an after-regular-library-hours genealogy program where we bring in special speakers and spend the night talking about and researching genealogy. The Medina Library co-hosts them with the Medina County Genealogical Society, twice a year, once in April and once in September.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     This April, we are pleased to be offering a session on Researching your Polish Ancestry. Ben Kman of the Polish Genealogical Society of Cleveland will be our speaker. This is part of the Library's efforts to provide training on Eastern European roots, which Lisa and I do not have a lot of experience in. We know there is a need for it from the questions we get at the Reference Desk and during our sessions as the Genealogist is In! This presentation will run from 7-8 p.m. 

After a brief intermission to re-energize with some of the light refreshments provided by the Library, we resume at 9 with a second educational session.

This April, Lisa will be talking about Ancestry Library Edition (ALE), the library subscription database that is the sister site to Ancestry. com  ALE is very similar to the commercial database with some of the personalized options not available. And it is FREE from inside any of the Medina County District Library branches.

You do not have to stay the whole 4 hours.You do not have to come to the educational sessions.  You do have to be present to claim your door prize. You could spend the whole evening doing genealogy research using library computers and databases. Genealogical  society members and library staff will be on hand to help you. 

April Genealogy Lock-In

22 April - Friday

6:30-10:30 p.m.

You can sign up to attend it here: 

Lock-In

Door prizes, provided by the Library and the Medina County Genealogical
Society are awarded during the intermission. You must be present to win.

You CAN Write Your Family History!

We all have stories to tell about our families. That is what genealogy is about; telling our family stories, with source citations!


And we all seem compelled to share those stories with others! But often times, as we get bogged down in the story of how we had to comb through the dusty crumbling land records in the dank musty basement to locate the proof that our great great great grandfather ---

Okay. I have already lost you, haven't I? And by then our audience's eyes have glazed over.

But if you could just write a book!!

Writing a family history book may seem overwhelming and an unreachable goal. But it doesn't have to be.


You might be thinking "I am not a writer!" Or "I almost flunked  English Composition!
I could never write a book!" But you don't have to write "the great American novel" on your first try. You can start small, with little stories.

And most computer word processing programs let you know when you've made a grammatical or spelling error.


Come join us at the Genealogy Lock-In on September 18th 6:30-10:30 p.m. and learn how you can make your family history book a reality.

Click HERE to register for the Lock-In. Or call the library at 330-722-4257.

Fall Genealogy Lock-In

Genealogy Lock -In

September 18

6:30-10:30 p.m.

Call 330-722-4257  to register

Join us as the  Medina Library offers an after-hours Genealogy Lock-In, a night where library staff & resources are dedicated to helping you research your family.  Refreshments, door prizes and LOTS of learning opportunities!

This September we will be exploring:

   1.   Slovak Genealogical Research     &
   2.  Writing Your Family History

As more and more people delve into their family history, Lisa and I have been getting many requests for help with Eastern European ancestry. So we will be offering instruction on different ethnicities starting with Slovak genealogy with John Sabol.

Also, many people are overwhelmed at the thought of writing a book about their family history. They don't have to be! In the second session you will learn how You CAN Write Your Family History!

Cosponsored with Medina County Genealogical Society.

Click here to register.

Lineage Society Update

I got in! My application to The Society of Civil War Families of Ohio was accepted!

Next April, in Mason, Ohio, I will attend the Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS) Conference and The Society of Civil War Families of Ohio banquet and receive my certificate and my pin!

You might remember that I was a little nervous about this application, as OGS is known for its stringent lineage society application process.

I covered the application process in two earlier blog posts:

• New Year's Resolution Update

• New Year's Resolution

Now, my dilemma is... Do I apply for First Families of Ohio?

First Families of Ohio pin.
Isn't it pretty!?!

The application would be nearly identical. I would just have to prove one generation past my Civil War ancestor and prove that his father was in Ohio before 1820. This gets a little trickier, because of the lack of birth and death certificates in this time period. I will have to rely on wills/estate records and land records to prove First Families eligibility. But I am so close!!

If you still don't understand why anyone would want to apply to a lineage society, or have questions about how to go about it, the Medina County Genealogical Society has a very nice article about it in their latest newsletter:

THINKING ABOUT A LINEAGE SOCIETY ??
Do any of these statements reflect your genealogy research:
 My parents and/or grandparents and/or ancestors lived in Ohio before 1914.
 My great grandfather or great uncle served in the Civil War and lived in Ohio.  I learned that my family once lived in
Medina County.
 Whenever I tell my family about these ancestors that I have found, they politely smile, nod their heads and change the subject.
For once it would be nice to have someone tell me “Congratulations” with regards to my research and place on “A+” on the papers I would show them!!”
If you have answered “Yes” to any of these statements, you should consider submitting your research to a lineage society. When your papers are accepted, your work is acknowledged as meeting genealogy standards. Your ancestors are remembered
forever in the collection of the lineage society. Fellow genealogists are acknowledging your accomplishments and publish this in their publications.
Still, you may hesitate to take the time to follow through on this effort. For most people, they are intimidated by the application process. The purpose of this article is to advise our membership that lineage support will be available before and after all future chapter meetings. Board members have lineage experience with Ohio Genealogical Society, our own chapter lineage society, as well as Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and Sons of the American Revolution (SAR.) The members will be happy to answer your questions, review paperwork suggest areas of research and/or share our previous applications. We hope to show you that the process to honor your ancestors in a lineage society is very rewarding and not as difficult as you think.